Clarity
by AshleysTheName
Summary: A new genius plan has been formed:give Granger a potion to not only make her forget her entire life as a wizard, but implant false memories as a muggle as well.Without her, the trio would be nothing,right?However,the potion has never been tried out,and she needs to be constantly looked after to ensure she isn't remembering anything.Draco knew he would be punished, but not like this
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

Draco Malfoy yawned and stretched out his arms before settling on the long, leather couch in his father's office. He nuzzled his face into a pillow and sighed in relief. He was finally done with his sixth year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; only one more year left in that hell-hole.

Actually, to call it a hell-hole would be generous.

But right now, he didn't care about that. He didn't care about the mark on his left arm, that god-awful school, or that half-blood Potter with his Mudblood and blood-traitor friends. He would be punished for sure for his failed mission, but all he cared about then was his favorite couch and three long months of peace.

And then his father walked in, with a short, wheezy Death Eater in tow. Draco groaned internally; he wished he could just nap in peace. He didn't dare say anything aloud.

Neither of them acknowledged his presence. Draco was fine with that, so long as their topic of discussion wasn't too gruesome. He had walked in at the wrong time in conversations many times before…

"It's quite brilliant, actually," the Death Eater wheezed. Draco had seen this one before, and didn't like him, but then again Draco didn't like many things.

This couch, Draco thought. That was the only thing he truly liked.

"Give someone that potion, and they will forget everything! All of the memories, gone! Sure, they will remember the basic things: how to read, write, their preferences, their name. The human brain is puzzling, you see. It implants false memories. Growing up as a lousy Muggle, going to school, making friends. Wait! This is where it becomes very genius…."

Draco dozed off then, not caring about the rest of their conversation, until he heard a certain name that made his ears perk up in interest.

"That Mudblood? Hermione Granger? Simply genius sir, simply genius! Nobody would remember who she was; she wouldn't remember who she was, even. She is the true brain of the trio. With her gone, they are weak! We would be unstoppable…of course, she would need constant surveillance; this potion has never been tested before…there is a slight chance it might fail, and I have no idea how long it will last…" he said, thinking aloud, his hand on his pointy chin.

"All of our Death Eaters are in use at the moment…we can't afford to lose one just to survey a filthy Mudblood," Lucius Malfoy said. His pale eyes then briefly darted to his son, stretched out on the couch.

"Make yourself presentable, Draco," he said with a mixture of annoyance and disgust.

Draco promptly sat upright and smoothed his pale hair. Again, not showing any signs of annoyance towards his father. He was already in too much trouble.

Draco sat uncomfortably as his father now talked in hushed whispers with the other Death Eater. He could see the Death Eater's eyes growing by the second. Why did he get the feeling something bad was going to happen?

Oh right, that tends to happen when you work for the most evil wizard of all time.

"But sir, having him surrounded by those..those.. Muggles?" he asked, his hoarse voice attempting a whisper. "I-I don't think he deserves a punishment this great, sir."

"It's a win-win situation, really," his father said, talking in a normal voice now. "Draco gets his punishment, and we get to test this potion. Yes! I'm liking the sound of this."

Draco did not. He was shifting in his seat uncomfortably. If they were talking about what he thought they were…no, he wouldn't even think about it.

"If you are sure, sir…" he said, turning to Draco, "We will fully discuss the information later, but it seems you will be the one surveying Granger under the influence of this new potion."

..

Hermione Granger eagerly unlocked the doors of her new apartment. A place all to herself! She rolled her suitcase into the small room. It wasn't much at all, just a small bedroom, kitchen area, and a bathroom, but it was hers. Her parents had agreed to pay for a place for her to stay and focus on her studies; it was hard for her to concentrate in her house with the crying and whining of the newborn twins.

She was looking forward to getting ahead on some summer readings and studies in solitude.

Her books went right up on the shelf, barely fitting. It was still hard to register: a place of her own. It was only for the summer, though. It was a small flat in Oldham, a town just north east of Manchester. It was small, but it would do.

She was just putting her clothes away when she heard a knock on the door. She opened it.

"Hello," a tall, pale man about her age said at her doorway in a monotone voice.

"Uh, Hi!" she said uncertainly. Who was this guy?

"I'm Drac-I mean Drake. I live in the apartment next door," he said, holding out his hand awkwardly. Tentatively, she shook it.

"I'm Hermione," she said with a smile. Even if he did seem odd, she was glad to already be meeting new people. "Hermione Granger."

There was sort of an awkward silence before she said, "Did you just move in?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Oh, so did I." She smiled politely.

"Well I'll let you unpack. It was nice to meet you," Drake said.

"Yeah…you too," Hermione said and closed the door.

..

That was truly painful, and bizarre, Draco thought. Having to have a civil conversation with a Mudblood, or even having to have a civil conversation with anyone. Gosh he hated people. Especially Mudbloods. Especially Mudbloods who were friends with Harry Potter. And especially Mudbloods who thought they were Muggles. Oh, the struggle.

These next weeks or (he shuddered) months would be absolute torture. It wasn't until they actually brought the Dark Lord into the situation that he had finally agreed to do it.

"It's the best option, Draco," he had said as he stared with his persuasive eyes. Draco had felt a small shiver go up his spine. "Unless, of course, you would seek some other form of punishment…" he didn't have to finish to know what he was talking about.

After that encounter, he figured he'd only do the bare minimum. He would watch her and tell them everything he saw, and then get out.

So now here he was, knocking on Granger's door like they had never met. Awesome.

He almost gave something away, too. His name.

"Don't say anything that might strike a memory," the Death Eater had said. "Befriend her, get to know her, but don't say anything about yourself or magic. Don't give anything away, and don't leave. Or we will find out," said the Death Eater grinning a nasty grin.

From the corner, the owl looked at Draco with a watchful eye. He was there to look over him, and for Draco to send the weekly reports on how the Mudblood was doing. He already hated that owl (it's name was 'Strix'). He flung a pillow at it from across the room; it dodged it and chirped indignantly.

Draco groaned. Was it really only three weeks ago that he was relaxing on his favorite couch?

..

Report for week 1 of Surveillance

She's boring. She doesn't do anything except for going to a café and reading, or going to the library and reading, or going to the park and reading. She doesn't seem to have any memory of anything. She doesn't do anything.

So, if you were wondering, she likes iced mochas, romance books, and visiting pet stores like any teenaged Muggle, but no signs of remembrance. Satisfied?

P.S, is a constant owl really necessary? You could just send one each week to pick up the letter. This one is particularly annoying and I have feeling I might 'accidentally' forget to feed it for a week…

..

No that certainly is not enough information. Have you actually talked to her? Just observing from afar will do no good in seeing if she has any remembrance in her life as a witch. Talk to her, become close, and have her tell you her deep, personal secrets. Watching her will do no good.

Oh, and please make sure you are feeding Strix, he looked quite thin when he returned your letter…

..

Hermione ordered her iced mocha before starting along the street to go the library. She had just finished reading her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice, for around the thirtieth time, but she couldn't be sure because she had lost count ages ago. She had originally left her own dog eared, annotated copy at home as she had planned on reading new books, but that hadn't turned out so well.

She slung her bag over shoulder and started on foot to the library. She wasn't a fan of driving and was delighted to find her favorite places were within walking distances from her flat. She much enjoyed walking and enjoying the scenery better.

She was about halfway there when she felt a slight tug on her shoulder.

"Oh, hello Drake!" she said to him. She hadn't seen him since the last week when he introduced himself.

"I think you dropped this," he said without returning the hello. He held out a small, red book that must have fallen out of the front pocket of her bag, which she realized was open.

"Oh wow, thank you! I don't know what the library would think if I lost a book when I've had a card for a week," she said, laughing. He didn't respond. "Do you like to read?" she asked to fill up the awkward space. They were holding up traffic in the sidewalk so they continued walking.

"Somewhat," he said, shrugging, "Um, my dad has a big library and I've read most of the books. But usually it was because I was bored." Even though it was an average conversation, he seemed tense and alert. Like he was afraid of something.

"You have a library in your house? That's amazing!" she said, ignoring his tense demeanor. "I'd love to visit it!"

He was quiet for a moment. "You wouldn't like his kind of books."

"And what kind of books are they?" she pressed.

"Not your kind of books."

"And how would you know my kind of books?" she asked defensively.

"Well, you are reading Pride and Prejudice, not my personal favorite and definitely far from what his library would have. Let's see, is this your ninth time reading it, tenth?"  
She didn't respond; that number was reaching more towards thirty. Instead she changed the subject.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked.

"Nothing in particular, I was just enjoying the rare heat."

The heat was a nice change, actually. Even though it was summer, the weather usually required a jacket and pants, but people were happily waking around in shorts and flip-flops on this day. The weather seemed to also bring a nice feeling throughout the air, laughter and the smell of food filled the air. The sun felt nice baking on Hermione's hair.

She returned her book in the outside returning box with no intention of getting another.

She wanted to get past Drake's abstruse demeanor and find out more about him.

"Why did you move here? It seems like the house you lived in was pretty large, it had a library after all."

He blew air through his nose quickly. "Yeah, it was. And I moved here because I was punished, and I need…to do something. For my father."

"Do what?" she asked as she scrunched her eyebrows. He made it seem like living here was bad. Yeah, his house was probably bigger, but the people were nice. And maybe it was just her, but she loved the sense of independence.

"To take care of something," he said vaguely. Hermione didn't press; she knew he wasn't going to say anything more on the topic.

With turning her book in and getting her favorite drink, she had nothing left to do. "Hey, do you want to…do something?" she asked.

..

Draco sat at his desk with paper and a Muggle pen in hand. It had taken a little getting used to at first, but he learned quickly. This week was exhausting for him; he had become somewhat of 'friends' with Hermione Granger, or a friend to her anyway, and engaged in various Muggle activities. It was so exhausting not being able to use magic. He figured it was longest time without using a spell since he had gotten a wand. He felt so…helpless, like a pathetic Muggle. He dreaded the thought of getting attacked and having no means to protect himself.

Worse yet, he had to spend all day interacting with them as if he were one of them. It felt like spending two weeks in a gorilla cage and pretending to be on their same level. The only thing close to a 'wizard' he had come by was Granger, and that wasn't saying much.

He wondered if his friends knew what he was doing; how humiliating that would be if they found out he was currently dedicating his life to becoming friends with the Mudblood.

Strix chirped impatiently from his cage. It was around suppertime for him and he was quick tempered. Draco threw a pillow at the cage to shut the bird up; he was already at his wit's end with Granger and the bird certainly did not help.

He began writing his letter.

..

Report for Week 2 of Surveillance

I talked to her. A lot. I still think this kind of punishment is cruel and unusual. She told me about her 'life' as a Muggle, with no indication about witches or wizards or the like. She literally cornered me for an hour to talk about her parents and twin brothers and I had to sit through various lectures on why classic romance novels are the best.

Again, cruel and unusual punishment.

She dragged me to a Muggle movie, which was painful.

Cruel. Unusual.

She seems to be nice to me (albeit nosy), which obviously means she doesn't remember me. I think she senses something fishy going on, however. She won't stop asking me questions, but then again she's always stuck her nose in other people's business.

Again with the owl; I would like a new one. I find it hard to concentrate on writing a letter when he's chirping every minute.

Going off on a tangent, is it really necessary for me to be without a wand? I'm not going to use it in front of her or Muggles or anything like that. I just need it, you know for…emergencies…

..

Oh please, don't be overdramatic, Draco.

I am delighted to hear that she is enthusiastic about her Muggle life; it shows that she is not wondering about her life as a witch. However, I still think you can step it up a notch. Ask her questions about her life and see if there are any gaps of some sort. Start doing some of the talking and asking.

Strix is fine, he just has a certain hour to eat, like I mentioned before; he needs to eat every day at 7 am and again 7 pm. It shouldn't be that difficult.

But then again, you do tend to sleep until noon.

And your wand? Not a chance. Much too risky.

..

Draco sighed as he read the letter. No wand? At this point, even Hogwarts sounded appealing.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

Draco awoke to the sound of his doorbell ringing. He unwillingly opened his eyes to read the clock on his nightstand; it was ten o'clock. He was surprised that Strix hadn't hooted and woken him up for food like he had the past couple of weeks; instead, the bird was missing.

He answered the door to find Hermione standing there with a hot coffee and a striped scarf. Just the person he wanted to see.

"Hi, Drake! Oh-did I wake you up? I'm sorry. I've always been an early riser; I've been up since six. Well my parents always said-"

Again, with the talking. Did it ever stop? He tuned her out and waited until she got to the point, but a word spiked his interest.

"Like this one year, I dressed up as a witch for Halloween and-"

"You what?"

"Dressed up as a witch for Halloween."

Draco vaguely remembered hearing about this 'Halloween' it had something to do with dressing up and getting candy, but he wasn't totally sure.

"I've always been interested in witches and wizards; it's so cool! I mean, of course they don't exist, but that would be neat."

Draco let out his breath that he wasn't aware that he was holding. So she didn't think wizards were real but she had an interest. Through what Draco had experienced, Hermione + Interest = finding out information; that would not be good.

"Anyways, I was thinking we could drive to Manchester today, just for fun. What do you think?"

"Sure," he mumbled, still dumbfounded by her wizard comment.

"Do you want to drive or should I?"

"Well…I don't know how to drive," he said and regretted it moments later. He knew that it seemed uncommon for a boy like him to not be able to drive and he didn't want her to start remembering a life without cars.

"Are you serious? You've never driven?"

Figuring he had already dug himself in a hole, he shook his head.

"Then I know what we'll do today; I'll teach you!"

"Really, that isn't necessary," he wanted to avoid any situation where he wouldn't get information. Why go through more torture than needed?

"Oh don't be silly. I'll meet you in the lobby in ten," was all she said before leaving. He figured she wouldn't take no for an answer. How hard could Muggle driving be anyways?

..

Apparently very difficult.

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione was sitting in the drivers seat and a very nervous Draco was in the passenger's seat. The only time he had ever experienced anything with a car was when Weasley and Potter crashed it into the Whomping Willow second year and stole the show. Even then, that was a magical car.

"Okay, this here is the shift lever," Hermione explained from the front seat of the car. "It is so you can put the car in park (like we are now), reverse, neutral, or drive. All you have to do is put your foot on the break and move it to reverse so we can move out of the parking spot. But first, put on your seat belt," she said quickly.

Draco blinked at all of the information. He was still stuck on the part where she put the key in; it had all happened so quickly. He looked around for a 'seat belt' and, judging by its name, he figured it was something to go over his waist. He watched Granger take the belt from the wall and put in in a buckle to her right. Draco followed suit, figuring it had to be the 'seat belt'.

He felt the car start to move and he got extremely nervous. He was putting his life into the hands of a Mudblood a in a complicated device that he had no idea how to operate. And to top it all off, he didn't have a wand if something went awry. He grabbed onto the side for dear life. Putting his life on the line was not something he had signed up for.

"Are you okay, Drake? We're not even out of the parking lot." She laughed as she noticed his white face.

"Fine," he lied, but he heard his voice crack.

"Alright, so now that we're out of the parking space I'm going to put my foot on the brake and I'm going to shift the car to 'drive' so that we can move forward. Alright?"

Draco nodded, too afraid to respond.

"Now, we just give it a little gas and-" she paused, "Are you sure you're alright? You look ill."

"I told you, I'm fine. Just get on with it," he said harshly.

"Watch your tone, Malfoy," she said sternly.

Draco froze. So did she. He had made it a point not to tell her his last name, so how had she known?

"I-I'm sorry. I honestly don't know why I called you that…it just sort of came out. I-I don't even know what that means…"

"It's my last name," he lied smoothly, "I told you when I first met you."

This seemed to ease her spirit and she continued "Oh right, of course! Oh, uh where were we? Right! Now we're going forward. And this here is your indicator," she said, pointing to a lever by the steering wheel. "It lets the other cars know which directions you're turning. Up for right and down for left."

She moved forward out of the parking lot and Draco felt his insides knot tighter with every inch. He admitted that he was a control freak and letting his enemy in control of this situation terrified him. He was sure his father would be proud of him learning to drive this Muggle vehicle and truly getting involved with the mission at hand; that was the only thought that kept him from jumping out of the car and running all of the way back to the manor.

Hermione drove onto a street and stopped at a red light, "Red means go, yellow means slow down, and green means go," she said. "But you already knew that."

Sure he did. She accelerated forward when the light turned green. He noticed that the entire street was filled with oblivious, stupid Muggles and that thought made him even more nervous. He had to trust that all of these Muggles wouldn't randomly crash into the car and kill him instantly. He realized with horror that the car next to him was mere feet away.

When she stopped at the next light, he loosened his grip ever so slightly. He saw that she and the other Muggles had obviously been driving for a while and knew what they were doing. However, he still kept a wary eye; Hermione seemed to be remembering her hatred for him.

"What does that thing mean?" he asked pointing to one of the gauges that was currently pointing to '45'. He was determined how to learn and operate this thing so that he could do it himself and not have to trust anyone else.

She paused for a moment, "That's a speedometer, Drake. It shows you how fast you're going," she said. "Have you ever been in a car before?"

"Of course I have," he fibbed. He still had no idea what the '45' meant.

He studied all of the confusing gauges and lights on the dashboard. Even though he didn't like anything about the Muggle world, he figured he could at least learn how to drive. He could perhaps take a break and find some wizarding spots around as pretending to be a Muggle could be quite exhausting.

An hour later, he collapsed on the sofa in his bedroom. He had taken his hand at driving behind the wheel and, judging by Granger's face, he wasn't doing so well. He never knew that some Muggle contraption could be so tricky (but he would never admit it).

Strix was back now which reminded Draco of the letter he needed to write.

..

Report for Week 3 of Surveillance

Well, I suppose this isn't good.

She slipped up when she was angry and called me 'Malfoy' when I didn't tell her my last name at all. Also, she said she dressed up as a witch for some 'Halloween' if that has any significance. She also stated that she had an interest in wizards (interest never turns out well in her case).

On another note, I'm learning how to drive a Muggle car, and I'm even better than Granger at it. Aren't you proud, Father?

I'm running low on owl food (not that it upsets me), so please send some over.

With my excellent cooperation and observation of Hermione Granger I think I am well deserving of my wand, wouldn't you agree? I felt as vulnerable as a mere Muggle being trapped in a small car with her.

..

No, this is not good. I knew little slip-ups and forces of habit would come up, but not this soon. Along with some extra food, I have attached a small vial containing a stronger dose of the potion for you to slip in a drink of hers without her noticing.

Is driving a Muggle car absolutely necessary? You shouldn't need to go any other place that's not immediately around you...I don't want you wandering around.

As for your wand goes, Hermione Granger will not kill you. Even if she did regain her memory, one of the greatest drawbacks of the three of them is their inability to kill.

If anything, I'm worried that you'd be the one killing her.

..

Draco woke with a pounding in his head. He had spent the remainder of the previous day doing what he did best: nothing. He had downright ignored several doorbells and knocks from Granger; he figured he had done enough that day.

The next day, he found Granger in the lobby with a small dog on a leash. "Why do you have that animal?" he asked, looking at the pathetic little being wagging its tail and sticking its tongue excitedly.

"I just got him! I tried to show you yesterday but you must have been asleep or out. Don't you like him?"

"I'm more of a cat person," he said simply. He never fancied dogs; all they did was poop and follow you everywhere, at least cats were somewhat self-sufficient. But both animals took some sort of work, something that he hated doing.

"I've named him Ron, it's a nice name don't you think?"

He looked at her with the most cheery face he could manage, "Lovely."

He had to get that vial in her drink as quickly as possible, but her usual coffee was missing. Instead, there was a book called "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K Le Guin tucked under her arm.

He knocked that off on his mental checklist of things that were going wrong with the potion. Now she was reading a book about wizards.

He walked out of the door and across the street to the coffee shop. Hermione seemed to notice his eyes on her book because she said, "I'm reading this new book. It's really good! It was written a long time ago and is about a young wizard named Ged who-"

"Hermione," he cut her off. "You mustn't waste your time on such childish fairy tales. Wizards aren't real."

"Of course I know that," she crossed her arms, "It's just that...I think it's interesting, you know? To be different; to be magical."

"It doesn't sound too fantastic to me," he said. He looked both ways before crossing the street and opened the door to the coffee shop. A little bell tingled at their entrance. Many arm chairs and tables were dotted across the floor and people sat reading or on computers; Hermione spent much of her time there.

"I'll have tea," Draco said at the counter, "black." He wasn't fond of coffee.

"I'll have the same, but put milk in mine please," she said after him.

"No coffee?" he asked after they sat down. She usually had coffee in her hand at any moment.

"It's been...giving me nightmares," she said as she rubbed her forehead, "My head is already starting to hurt."

Draco shrugged and took a long drink of his tea. He had been expecting to enjoy it by himself this morning. Must she follow him everywhere? He glanced down at Ron. The dog's eyes were looking at him happily and one of his ears was flopped over. Draco fixed the flopped over ear, Ron's tail wagging with enthusiasm at the attention. He rolled his eyes and continued to his tea.

The rest of the day went by painfully slowly. Hermione went to the library (of course), and Draco didn't find much else to do. It wasn't until she had left that he realized he had forgotten to slip the potion into her drink.

He wandered the streets and wondered if any of the people he made eye contact with was a witch or wizard. He longed for an equal to talk to instead of the constant pretending to live in a world in which he didn't belong.

He longed for home, not the manor in specific, but just some place where he could have his wand and didn't have to pretend. It was this thought that gave him a startling realization: he didn't miss anything besides magic. He definitely didn't miss his father or the Dark Lord, he didn't find himself thinking about his mother, and he could hardly call the oafs Crabbe and Goyle his friends. The one thing he truly only longed for was magic.

He thought of what would happen if the situation were reversed and Hermione had to watch him. She would be missing lots of things: her Muggle parents, her awful friends, her brothers, and magic on top of that. For a split second, he felt envious. He wanted something to miss, something to look forward coming back to.

He shook the envious feeling off immediately. Why should he be jealous of Granger? She was nothing but a Mudblood and surely was not as rich as he with a lavish mansion and House Elves waiting on him hand and foot. But still lay that one nagging thought that pulled at his insides: he truly didn't have anyone to live for.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I know I have sucked at multi-chap stories before but I already have a few chapters written for this one and a really detailed outline this time :O. I'm so excited.

Btw, this song is based of the song 'Clarity' by Zedd and the Foxes (as seen by the title formerly 'Just a Muggle' which was incredibly stupid). I suggest you listen to the acoustic version


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